Under The Banner
by Darksideinc1345
Summary: Francis always thought the world owed him something, his harsh life must of accounted for something? Yet he ends up enlisting for the Alliance army and is sent to the front lines. He finds himself fighting in many different regions and meeting many new people. Can he defend the Alliance's fronts or will his feelings for another sway his allegiance and change the tide of the war.
1. Prologue

**Hey guys, just a heads up This has nothing to do with the story, so skip it if you want the main story, also I wrote this prologue about two years before the rest of the story so don't be put off by bad writing or bad grammar and (hopefully) the rest of the story will be written better and have longer chapters. Anyway hope you enjoy my story it's going to be a long one and with lots of action and romance ;) so let me know what you think and thanks so much for reading :)**

Prologue

The air was heavy with a damp mist, the sun was well hidden behind a black clump of cloud and smoke, the smell of rotting flesh lingered in the air refusing to leave the nostrils of the remaining soldiers. Francis could hardly stand, his legs shaking from exhaustion his arms burning with pain, he could feel each drop of sweat slowly sliding down his blackened face. The cold air made his breath clearly visible and even with his vision blurred Francis could see his opponents mangled flesh as they weaved hand signs to summon more hellish creatures. Run! he screams in his head, get as far away as possible return home alive, see everyone he loves again, but he knew if he abandoned his brothers in arms now he would never be able to live with himself.

So he stood there in the worst image of hell anyone could imagine, silence fell then the ground shook, it splinted to start with then with a massive eruption behind the fleshy beings, the earth tore itself apart and an enormous creature that looked like someone had skinned humans and stitched the skin together climbed out of the hole made by the Necromancers. Francis felt his heart plummet, one of his brothers fell to his knees and to Francis' disbelieve his fellow brother began to cry out, tears gushing from his swelled up eyes, the sound echoed across the battlefield and with a loud grunt the the abomination slowly bounded towards them. Francis felt like copying his brother but before he fell to his knees his Commander, standing in the centre of the group of men, raised his sword to the sky and with a huge bellowing voice he shouted "Look around you men, your fallen brothers have not died to see you flee in tears, now stand with me and fight, fight with all your might..." and with the last of his breath screamed the words "For Stormwind!" Francis was nearly pushed over to the ground as his Commander charged forward, no fear in his strides, no wavering, instinct took over and Francis, now running of an unknown source of energy, ploughed on in pursuit of his fearless Commander.


	2. Recruitment

Ever since Francis could remember the star lit streets of Stormwind's trade district had been the most beautiful sight his young eyes had set eyes on, the lights dimly glowing as the flames flicker, the murmur of people as they pass on by. Francis was convinced he wouldn't find a place with this type of atmosphere anywhere else in Azeroth, even if he had never gotten further than the infamous Goldshire inn. Each night as he looked on from the rooftop of the trade districts auction house, the happenings of the people never stopped entertaining him, men trying as they might to woo the girls of the night, guards trying to keep the peace while couples argue over trivial matters, the war may be fearsome and deadly yet two people can still argue over who ate the last sweetroll. With a hint of envy in his voice, Francis looks down at his hands "who would want love? All it seems to do is start wars."

The cold air began to whip against his now colourful cheek, "Well I've bathed in nostalgia long enough, if I don't do it now I never will." Sighing as he drops down from ledge to ledge. The Alliance has been recruiting in Stormwind for the past three weeks, their office closes soon and any applications given after tonight will be sent to the guard captains and the applicant will be put on guard duty. "Jeez this is such a pain, who wants to die for anyone anyway?" Francis complained as he begrudgingly headed towards the recruitment office. Francis had always felt the world owed him something, the long days of backbreaking labour followed with cold sleepless nights must of accumulated to something? maybe he would find some unknown treasure and live rich? Or marry a beautiful princess perhaps? But time after time Francis has been dealt terrible hands, and he had a terrible feeling history was about to repeat itself.

The interior of the office was your standard military grade furniture oak wood for the most of it, oak was easy to get hold of especially in Elwyn Forest where Stormwind was located. The burly mammoth of a man sat behind a grand desk, his armour polished to the inch of it's life, his eyes never left Francis. What am I doing here? Francis thought as he hesitantly made his way towards the empty chair placed directly opposite the recruiter.

"You ever heard of Northrend boy?" Boomed the recruiter. Northrend who hadn't? Everyone north of the Stranglethorn jungles knew of Northrend and what horrors were said to be coming out of it. Francis nodded his head concentrating, trying his best not to let his fear show though, Why Northrend? he thought. Growing up every kid in Stormwind were told horror stories about monsters and eight legged demons coming out of Northrend, they were always told if they were naughty the demons would take them on in the night, obviously this wasn't true but for any 10 year old it was enough to get them from annoying their parents. "Sign up now and you'll know more than anyone" sarcasm was pouring out of the recruiters mouth, it almost made Francis laugh but he quickly composed himself, laughing now would be a one way trip to latrine duty, he hadn't even joined up and he was in danger of backbreaking labour. Francis could feel the heavy gaze of the recruiter resting upon him "What's your reason for join' up?" he had rehearsed the answer to this question countless times in his head yet this time, at this moment he couldn't get the words he knew out, instead his mouth seemed to move on its own, spouting words that he couldn't seem to control "I always thought we were on this world for reasons we don't need to concern ourselves about, yet the recent events shattering Azeroth has made me realise those reasons we're here are now unravelling themselves, standing by idly is no longer an option".

A smile crept into the corner of the recruiters mouth, "I take you for more of a strategist, and if that's true and your as smart as I think then you're not just here to talk about the war so you signin' up?" Francis never took himself for a deep thinker, all his decisions were spur the moment. With a sullen expression he slowly nodded his head. Before Francis' head even finished nodding the recruiter had already produced a scroll of parchment and a quill, there was a smile on the man's face, a smile that has clearly been rehearsed many times in front of a mirror. Francis was hesitant at first, he had battled with this thought before he went to sign up, he had heard all the stories from the veterans in the inns. Their tales of hell, blood and death most people just label them as crazy yet the stories always got to Francis. Even with the doubt he held back the fear building in the pit of his stomach and scribbled his name at the bottom of the scroll. As he did so a feeling of dread filled his body, he didn't read any of the writing that was before the signature box, before he could react the recruiter swiped the scroll away at such a force Francis half expected the table to go with it. The recruiter let out a slight chuckle and said "You belong to the Alliance now boy, you do what the Alliance says, go where the Alliance says and die when the Alliance says, you just better hope the Alliance is in a good mood when it's ordering you about". The joke was lost on Francis as the realisation of what he had just done sunk in.

"Since you've heard of Northrend boy I'm going to take a wild guess you've also heard of Redridge Mountains too?" Francis went to reply but before he could the recruiter continued on anyway "That's good to know lad, well you'll be on the first griffin there before sunrise tomorrow, you'll be issued with everything you need there, take this stone and show it to the griffin master he'll take you to the right place". Francis was just about to ask the recruiter a question when a loud shout came from the burly man "NEXT!" the recruiter was clearly finished with this session and was keen to move swiftly onwards. A Gnome was already shoving Francis out the door when a Night Elf walked through in, Francis had never seen a Night Elf before. She was tall and slim, her green hair was pulled into a ponytail and swayed as she moved towards the recruiter's desk. Francis wanted to stare at this strange being longer but the Gnome was pushing at him with more force than should be possible for a person as small as him.

Now out in the cold air again Francis realised that this may well be his last day in Stormwind. A sudden chill down his spin made him think even though he lothed the streets of this city it was still home and he would miss it terribly, he decided for nostalgia's sake he would take one last walk through the districts he had unknowingly grown an attachment to.


	3. Welcome to the Alliance

The griffin master seemed to laugh slightly as he accepted the stone which Francis had received only last night. "Redridge Mountains eh, well you'll be in for a treat I heard since their last battle the squadron is in dire need of recruits, take that information as you will". Francis wished the griffin master hadn't said anything, he'd hardly gotten any sleep last night, the mixture of fear and alcohol wasn't a good one and sleep didn't come easily while bathed in both. The griffin master slapped the griffin's back and with a mighty leap the griffin took flight, this wasn't the first time Francis had flown a griffin, in fact he rather enjoyed flying them this was the only part of the day he had slightly looked forward to.

The flight wasn't long and Francis' enjoyment ended abruptly as he saw the military camp he would potentially be spending the rest of his young life at. For a military camp it wasn't very big, Francis was expecting a massive fort like the ones he'd read in stories, yet this camp housed six tents in a row, three on each side and a poorly constructed log cabin at the end of the rows. Guessing the tents were the barracks' Francis deduced that the log cabin would be where the captain of the base would be staying. If so then Francis would have to head there first.

Immediately after landing a young boy, who was probably just shy of twelve years of age hurried up towards Francis "You're the new recruit aren't ya? If so then head to the third tent on the left, the one closest to the cabin". Francis was shocked by the sudden arrival of someone so young, even though Francis wasn't old by any means being told what to do by a person so young was almost laughable. Not wanting to incur the wrath of any officers on the first day though he reluctantly complied with the kid and set off towards the tent that was indicated to him. The sun was at its highest in the sky and the temperature was near unbearable as Francis entered the tent. There was nobody inside only a few beds and chests holding the belongings of soldiers serving with him. Francis slumped his bag onto the bed, as he did so a flood of light gushed into the room as the flap of the tent was swung backwards. Standing just inside the tent was a tall thin man, he carried a bow in one hand and his other was resting on a small dagger which rested on his right hip. "Well I heard the rumours but never thought they were true, yet here I am looking straight at it" the man said while looking quite amused. Francis stared silently back not really understanding what was going on, ever since he arrived here nothing seemed to be nearly close to the normality of his life in Stormwind.

"A kid….. They sent me a kid, what am I meant to do with a kid? this is a disaster" The strange man was now rubbing his eyebrows furiously. It took some time but eventually Francis realised the strange man was talking about yours truly. Francis hated being called a kid, all his life he'd been limited to doing anything because of his age, and now even in the army the same was happening. "I'm not a kid…. I'm seventeen, in the eyes of the law I am an adult", Francis' tone was far from convincing the last words trembled from his mouth and didn't fool the stranger at all.

The fact is Francis was actually lying, he was only sixteen and you had to be seventeen or older to join up with the Alliance. If he was ever caught there would be serious consequences and any medals or ranks he had acquired while serving in the military would be revoked. "Seventeen or fifty it doesn't matter you're still a kid in my eyes until you've lived in the army for as long as I have". The strangers tone was starting to sound impatient so Francis decided to let him do all the talking. "Now what's the name? Francis is it? Well you've arrived at a great time to sign up for cannon fodder, because that's all we need right now". The stranger paused for a moment silently appreciating his play with words, then quickly started again. "With the Gnolls to the rear, the Giants and Orcs the the north and now the Undead lead by that bitch banshee queen. you can't go for a pee without someone trying to cut it off". Francis didn't need more of an explanation he was quick enough to understand that he had landed in the meat grinder. "Now you have training in three hours and a briefing before you're dismissed to bed" The stranger smartly turned away on his heel and started to walk out the tent, he then stopped and looked back at Francis, with a sly smile on his face he said "Oh and welcome to the Alliance I'm sure you'll love the time you spend with us".


	4. To Ummm Battle?

**Hey there, this chapter is all about our hero meeting with his new comrades, I'm trying to get most of the talking and less interesting points of the story out there first, so there is more time for all the Action, Drama and Romance (and trust me there will be a lot of it ;))**

 **So again let me know if you like it, all reviews good or bad are very welcome, and please enjoy the story as much as I have making it :D**

Francis had never used a sword before, the weight of it felt odd in his hands and every time he tried to swing it he'd always lose balance and end up spinning out of control. All the instructors could do was watch in dismay as he fumbled about trying to strike the target dummy.

The training yard was a small fifteen foot by fifteen foot sand patch, there was wooden logs laid horizontally on the floor to mark out the area and three wooden dummies stood in the centre. There was a small wooden sign just in front of the entrance, written upon it were the words "Warriors training field". Francis had chosen that a sword and shield would be the best choice of weapons for him. He'd never liked daggers and wasn't lucky enough to be blessed with the talent of magic, he had always envied the mages, their skills to create and cast powerful and beautiful magic had always seemed to put them in a good place in society. Francis was all right with a bow, but he had dreadful visions of an enemy ending up being too close and without a proper sword to defend with the outcome didn't look favourable, so sword and shield it was.

After the training was finished Francis and six other new recruits were ushered into a tent which had two other tents combined on each side, this made the tent one of the largest in the small base camp that they were situated in. Upon entering Francis could instantly feel a wave of heat hit him, the day was hot and with the sweat he worked up while training the tent felt like it was on fire.

Francis took a seat at the back of the room, not wanting to attract attention to himself he'd

done enough of that today. As the rest of the soldiers in the room settled down a tent flap in the left corner of the room swung open. The room descended into silence as a rather tall man with a cape quickly following him as he strode into the room. Francis noticed several decorations hanging from his shoulderplates and a gold face of a lion imprinted into the centre of his chestplate. The silence was broken by the man standing before them "Everyone thank you for coming, as you can all tell we're in a bit of a bind". His voice was calm, not like the recruiter Francis had spoke to the other day, this man's voice made him sound like an approachable person, someone you would want to follow into battle. " We're surrounded by enemies on all sides and this is making it difficult for our supply caravans to make it to and from our base, soon this will be a war of attrition. So something must be done, the Gnolls are the weakest of our enemies so we'll be striking them first". This wasn't a bad plan Francis contemplated, when in a battle with multiple enemies there are always two options, either go for the weakest one first so you have less enemies to face, but risk being too weak to fight the other two strongest after. Or go for the strongest one first so then the rest will be much easier and risk being finished off after the long and hard battle with the strongest. It was a difficult decision but one that must be made.

"We have intell suggesting that the main body of the Gnoll army will be moving out of their fortified camp to strike a collaborative deal with the Horde, no doubt a deal that will remove us from the area." There was no hint of sarcasm in his voice, this was war Francis knew that removing from the area was just another word for dead.

"Our plan is to intercept the Gnolls before they reach the Horde. We will have the element of surprise for the first part of the attack, but when the Gnolls figure out what's happening they'll put up a good fight. This won't be easy, but rest assured this plan won't be happening for a few days so training schedules are to be doubled. That's all for now, officers remain, everyone else you are dismissed." The room filled with the small Alliance force stood up and started to leave the room, the few who stayed were the officers, each wore a cape and had a gold trim to their silver armour.

Francis slumped into his hard wooden bed, he was grateful that he wasn't on watch tonight. It was still his first week on base so he didn't have watch duties for now, although with the appending attack only days away he'll be lucky to be alive for his first watch duties.

Death.. He'd never thought about death as such a close certainty, living in Stormwind he was in relative safety, guards posted at every intersection and at every five metre intervals along the walls. Sure there had been raids on Stormwind, but none that got further than the Valley of Heroes.

Yet here he was, preparing to fight to the death, he'd only been here for a day, what had he gotten himself into. A large blech broke his train of thought, without Francis realising the room had started the fill up with the other four soldiers he would be spending the night, and hopefully many more nights with. It seemed that as Francis started to acknowledge the presence of the others on the room, they happened to do the same. One by one they turned to look at him, He wasn't much to look at, his hair was ruffled not settling in one direction, he wasn't the most muscular of men and he never thought he had any good looks about him. There was a silence to the room before it was broken by the closest soldier to Francis. "Hey, how ya doin? my names Isaiah" His voice had an unusual accent to it, he wasn't from Stormwind that's for sure, or anywhere near it either. In fact he'd never heard the accent at all, which is strange because hundreds of traders and adventurers came through Stormwind on a daily basis, all from different reaches of Azeroth surely he would of heard it somewhere, yet he couldn't seem to recall it at all. "Umm Francis is it?" The words broke his concentration again, he really needed to stop phasing out in thought. The question had come from a rather small person to the left of the man with the strange accent. It took Francis some time to work out she was actually a Gnome, she stood around three feet of the floor and had auburn coloured hair, her hair was short around her back and the sides but her fringe was flicked the the right and upwards, making the top of her hair look like a wave. For a moment Francis was speechless, he'd only ever seen one Gnome and that was in the recruiter's office the other day. "Umm yeah-yeah that's right, and you guys are?" As he finished he realised that his question seemed quite egotistical, yet the rest of the room seem to have not noticed.

"Well I'm Maisy but everyone just calls me Ministuff" the Gnome waved as she continued. "You already know Isaiah, the one dressed in black behind him is Mik, and finally" She turns sharply and points to the very back of the room, laying there is a male Night Elf turned on his side and facing the rear wall, the way his sides rose and fell in a constant rhythm indicated that he was already asleep. "This guy who so rudely skipped introductions is Krion, he sleeps almost all the time and doesn't speak much, but you should see him with a bow, reeeaaallly something else." Francis hadn't expected all this, he wanted to flop back towards his bunk and sleep forever. His past experiences with social interactions were terrible to say the least and interactions with the army, even more so.

"It's nice to meet you all." Francis forced a smile upon his lips, making friends early would make life much easier, if he lived long enough for it to matter. Francis was about to tell them all he was very tired and wanted to sleep, before he could though Isaiah, who was much louder than Francis would of liked, started with another question. "So! we saw you in training earlier today, your sword skill is….. interesting, ever had training before?" Francis knew it, sooner or later people would pick up on his inability with a sword. "Well no not really." He could feel the redness enveloping his face, he turned slightly and tried to look away. Acting sheepish was the way he usually got out of awkward situations, yet Isaiah didn't seem to know the word awkward and continued. "Well I use a sword and shield also, I can give you a few tips here and there." Francis could of sworn he saw him wink slightly, as unnerving as it was he knew he needed training and fast. Or he'll end up dying before he even arrived at the battlefield. "Although between you and me, I wouldn't count on Mik to help you much, he's too interested in small daggers. HA! may as well use them to cut food not people" Mik gave Isaiah a sharp glare as he turned his back the the three and tried to enter the state of unconsciousness that is sleep. There was a silence before Francis turned to Maisy "What about you Maisy-ugh Ministuff?" A smile crept over her face as he slowly crossed her arms across her impossibly small chest. "I have no need for physical weapons as yourselves, I am a follower of the light, it is my job to keep you all alive." Francis had heard stories of sick and mortally wounded people being visited by these 'Priests'. They say after a few spells and flashes of light the people are healed of all illnesses and wounds.

Yeah it's pretty impressive I know." Maisy said while slowly twirling a jewel embedded wand though her fingers. "Anyway we have double training tomorrow and you'll need you sleep if you're going to be training with Isaiah here". As she said this she jumped up to her bed and pulled the covers over herself. Following suit Isaiah did the same in his bed and suddenly there was silence again.

The oil lamp which was situated to the left of Francis' bed was waving wildly, even though there was no wind it flickered and danced as though some unworldly being was blowing against it. Shadows danced on the walls in time to the flame, each one taking on a role of a dance partner as they skittered along the walls and ceiling. Francis couldn't help but smile at the thought of having someone in his arms while dancing to the music, he wasn't sure what brought this thought upon himself, yet who knows why people think what they do before their nightly slumber. Francis had never had some sort of partner before in his life, with his rotten luck nobody gave him a second look. Yet this doesn't mean he never had dreams of someone he could eventually call his own, someone who would take his hand in hardships, light the candle and dance with him until all pain and worry left with the movement of entwining feet.

The thought of pure bliss removed all fear of the upcoming battle, the fear of death and the hopelessness of his training. he was locked in a world of dance and music, holding tight to the fantasy he had created in his head. Darkness started to shroud his mind as he fell more and more into his nightly slumber and soon enough, his breathing fell into line with the rest of the bodies in the room, he was asleep.

 **So the training for the big battle is going to start next chapter, also friendships are brewing and bonds are being made. I talked about Northrend in the past chapters and we will be visiting there but like the game you can't do the fun big areas without some exp collecting first. but worry not, unlike the game they will be visiting there very soon.**

 **But until then thanks for reading :D**


	5. This is War!

**This one was exciting to write because of the build up to the battle and what not. The story is finally starting to get slightly interesting (hopefully :P) anyway like always please let me know what you think :D**

 **Also trying to make these chapters longer each time, it started short because it was only meant to be a short story but its sort of evolving into a full story, so I'm trying to make the chapters longer. Anywho enjoy :)**

Chapter 4

He stood there, hands on her hips while counting continually in his head. One two three….. One two three. The lady, whose arms were tightly locked around his neck, smiled gently as he worked his legs in a clockwise rotation.

The music mingled into the background and soon all he could hear was the light breathing of the body that was latched onto him. The woman that he was partnered with wore a constant smile, her eyes were soft and her cheeks had a slight rose colour to them. She seemed to be a professional at dancing, it was clear that the dance floor, and all that accompanies it, is her natural habitat.

The music slowly dripped back into his conscience, the beat was slow and worked in time with his steps. The rhythm was calming and one could quickly fall asleep while listening to it.

Suddenly there was a large smashing sound breaking the rhythm of the music. No one seemed to notice the foreign sound, even the woman entwined in gracious dance with him didn't even miss a beat.

Again the smashing sound erupted through the hall in which they were all dancing in. Again nobody reacted, what was happening, why was Francis the only one who could perceive this sudden affront to the senses.

The world around Francis crashed into existence, towering over him was what he could only guess to be Isaiah. Dressed in his full plate military grade armour and with a stupid child like grin running across his face.

"Had enough sleep princess?" Isaiah laughed while pulling the blanket away from Francis' body. The cold instantly gripped his spine and began to run down his legs and arms. The reality of his situation slowly started to creep back into his mind, the upcoming battle, the training and the man towering over him still grinning. Was he enjoying this? who could possibly be smiling at this time in the morning? Francis tried to argue back, he tried to say anything that would give him more precious moments in bed, but all he could do was mumble the word "W-What?"

Isaiah was starting to lose his patience now "Francis get up, we have training in ten minutes. Meet me outside in five full armour and ready to go!" As he finished Isaiah brighten up back to his original mood and jogged out of the tent.

The sun was battling with the mountains, trying to peak over the top and drown the waiting world below with its light and warmth. The world around Francis was wide awake, the animals we're making their morning calls and the people were working up a hunger for breakfast. Isaiah was standing in an empty corner of the warriors training ground. He was leaning on his sword and his shield was strapped to his back leaning slightly to the right. He waved franticly as Francis approached, as if Francis would miss him and start training with someone else.

"Took you long enough, now get into a fighting stance, quick quick." Isaiah didn't spare anytime in getting started, it was like he'd been waiting for this all night. Francis did as he was told, he raised his shield up to his chest and then lifted his sword and turned it to point at Isaiah.

"Ha! not too bad, here try this" Isaiah unslung his shield and lifted it up higher than Francis'. He stopped when the rim of the shield was resting at eye level. "Bring you shield up as high as you can, don't obscure your vision, but you need to block most of your vital organs. You can live without a leg, but not without a head or a chest." Isaiah's words were stern, his jolly character had disappeared. It was putting Francis on edge.

"Your sword placement is good though, always keep it pointed at the enemy. Even though this is a slashing weapon." As Isaiah was talking about the slashing capabilities of the sword, he swung it left and right to represent his point. "It is also very effective as a thrusting weapon. In tight confines which you will likely be fighting in the thrust will kill more enemies than your swing." Again Isaiah began thrusting his sword into the air in front of him. As if imaginary enemies were lined up ready to be slain.

Training went by slow, yet more interesting than Francis could thought possible. Isaiah was serious about everything he taught Francis and he could see that even after three days he was improving. He no longer spun wildly after each swing, he stood his ground when Isaiah launched attack after attack upon his shield. His shield and sword were getting lighter after every training session, his armour which used to feel so heavy and stuffy, felt lighter and more natural to wear.

Francis was nowhere near being good at using the weapons yet he thought he was not as hopeless as before.

The last day before the battle came around. The feeling of dread and fear was more than Francis could take, he'd rather fight a hundred armies right now than wait another minute for the upcoming one. He'd been pacing around his bed for about half an hour, training was done for the day and people had been chosen for the watch. Francis had heard that Isaiah and Mik were one of those people.

Francis felt bad for Isaiah, with all the training he'd done with Francis and now he had to stay awake before the battle for another five hours.

Two more minutes pass and the tent flap bursts open "That son of a Yak, little piece of ram turd…" Ministuff storms into the tent with Kiron following sleepily behind her. "Wow wow what?" Francis replies with quite a lot of curiosity weighing in his voice. Ministuff turns to look at Francis with a shocked look on her face, almost as if she didn't expect him to be standing there. When she realised it was Francis her face softened "Oh its that bloody Commander Sebastian he's gone and put Isaiah and Mik in the vanguard that jerk!"

Francis knew this was bad news, the vanguard led the army and left a few hours ahead of the main force. They scouted ahead and secured locations for the main force of the army to arrive at. People who were in the vanguard had a small survival rate because they were always the first to engage with the enemy's main force.

"But they're on watch tonight as well, people on watch never go on the vanguard, or they'll be too tired to scout ahead of the army." Francis was trying to find any logic in putting them in the vanguard but nothing was sounding reasonable. "Exactly that's why I think the commander has it out for our squad with the watch and the vanguard." When Ministuff finished Kiron lifted his head up and added "And getting the kid as a replacement."

This was the first time Francis had heard Kiron speak since he arrived here, it was a shame the first thing he said was negative towards him.

"Kiron don't say that… he was only joking Francis. Tell him you were joking Kiron!" Ministuff's voice broke out into a frantic pitch, yet Kiron only waved his hand dismissively and slumped into his bed.

"Don't listen to Kiron, he's just... just not used to fighting with younger people…. So how ya feeling about tomorrow?" Francis had had lots of time to think about his feelings towards tomorrow's upcoming battle. None of the feelings positive unfortunately.

"Scared, I don't want to die and let everyone down. Not after all Isaiah's done for me these past few days." It was true Francis was terrified. A week ago he was planning what to do with his life, now he's preparing to go to war and potentially die because someone ordered him to do so.

"We're all scared Francis but use that fear tomorrow, use it to push you forward. We'll all be here for you as well as the whole army."

Words right now weren't going to make Francis feel much better, impending doom sort of had that effect to someone's mood that couldn't just be shaken off.

"Well get some sleep, you're going to need as much as you can get for tomorrow." Francis knew she was right, as hard as it will be he needed to sleep. He slumped back down onto his hard wooden bed, found a position that wasn't too unbearable and closed his eyes preparing for the restless night ahead.

There was a cold stabbing sensation in the air as Francis shuffled his feet to stay warm. The whole army had been standing in formation waiting for the commander to arrive and begin the march. Francis had been put into a the Echo squadron, the first five squadrons, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta and Echo, consisted of the front line fighters primarily the warriors and the paladins, or some unlucky soul that has pissed of an officer and landed a seat in the front ranks.

There were two squadrons behind Francis and then two squadrons flanking his left and right. These consisted of the ranged damage dealers and all the combat healers. Finally there was one squadron at the very back of the army, it was adequately named 'Zulu Squad.' They were the rear guard, if the battle was failing and the army needed more men they would call in the rear guard, or if the enemy try a flanking manoeuvre then the rear guard will hold them off until the officers can reroute more squadrons to help out.

There was a commotion to the left of the army, all the officers were hushing each other and standing at attention. Shortly after noticing this a loud order pierced the sky "Attention!" The order was given by the officer closest to the commander as he marched into view.

The second the order was called the whole army snapped to attention, almost naturally Francis followed suit. After the past few days of drill practice each order had been embedded into his brain and he could now react to them with almost no hesitation.

The commander marched to the front squad and halted slightly to the right of it. Without any warning he called "61st Alliance Advancement!" There was a pause as the words carried across the sky, echoing throughout the hills nearby. "Advance!" The army took their first left step outwards and they were off, there was no speech or momentous action the started the march much like ones Francis had read in stories about historic battles. They just marched ahead into whatever destiny awaits.

There was a rock building inside Francis' stomach, this was the time he'd been dreading the march towards probable death. The men and women surrounding him within his ranks all had the same sullen expression on their faces, was this it? The calm before the storm? It was hell. The trees passed by in one big blur, the world's problems seemed so trivial at this moment in time. Death put life into perspective like nothing ever could, it was ironic that death is what triggers the thoughts of life. No other action makes a person feel life in a new way than death does.

The march continued for what seemed like years. Nobody talked, what would they talk about? the land around them had a haunting silence to it, until the order was passed back, very quietly, to halt and all warrior squadrons to get into a horizontal line. Francis was relieved to see the scouting party, that Isaiah and Mik were part of, had arrived safely and were busy dividing themselves into the rest of the squadrons.

When everyone was in their positions the army was lined up behind a large tree line which ran alongside a wide road. The warrior squadrons were all in a line facing the road behind the tree line, all were laying down on their stomachs trying to keep out of sight. the rest of the squadrons were behind a small hillock off to the left, but just in range for the combat healers to reach the front line soldiers if needed.

Everything that had happened over the past days built up to this point. Francis' couldn't stop shaking, he didn't mind though everyone around him seemed to be doing the same not trying to hide their fear. Francis tried to think of the battle logically, if they could defeat the Gnoll army here then the Horde will have no one to team up with and crush their little Alliance outpost. The Alliance would not need so many reinforcements and more people could be sent to Northrend to try and stop the real threat to this world.

Francis had a lot of time to think all this through, which was weird because they were told that they would have little time when they got there to prepare. Yet almost on cue there was a crunching sound, then another and another. The sound increased in sound and frequency, this indicated that the Gnoll army had arrived and on mass.

A fist started to grow in Francis' throat. The rock in his stomach was making a fierce comeback and his legs felt like lead weights. This was it…. Would he die? The tenuous minutes to come would reveal all the answers. The battle for his life, for his future was coming to down to crash upon him.

This was it…. This was war!


	6. Never A Dull Moment

**Yo! It's been ages since the last update and I have a reason I promise. The reason is I'm really really lazy, I love writing the story but I get really easily distracting with stuff. Don't worry I'm going to finish the story, I just need to be less lazy :P**

 **Anyway to the battle! we have the battle in this chapter and I tried to add as much action into it but I don't think I'm great at action scenes yet so don't except Simon Scarrow style fights :)**

 **Also I'm going to America for a week in two days so I won't be doing any work on the next chapter for about a week and a half, so next update will be a little while away, but I'll work as hard as my laziness will allow me to. Anyway I hope you enjoy the chapter and please like, follow and review if you liked it (and even if you didn't :D)**

The wind whisked through the sky, each gust pushing the tips of the trees. All was quiet, animals dare not break the priceless silence that lay upon the world. The sun beat down on the ground with remorseless vigour shining through any cloud that attempted to obscure its rays. Life for this one endless moment was on pause. The world would pick up from where it left off in due time, but for now in this perfect instance everything was bright and fulfilling.

This all ended as footsteps shattered the dream world into tiny pieces, each step growing louder than the latter. Francis could hardly breathe, each step felt like someone was crushing his windpipe. What would he do when the order was called to get up and charge? Could he do it? His legs felt so heavy, his arms were trembling, his world was shattering.

The front of the Gnoll army started to pass in front of Francis' face, he was close enough he could see the facial features of each Gnoll as they passed by. Their fur running across their face and bodies, the drool continually emitting from their mouths while they snarl at each noise that seems foreign to them. Gnoll's were ugly creatures at best, they were hyena like in appearance yet walked on two legs. Francis noticed that their main weapon of choice was an axe or hammer and they wore little to no armour.

"Charge!" The order shattered the serene silence, as the order boomed so did Francis' heart. Everyone around him leapt to their feet but all he could do was lay there, why? Why couldn't he move? The people around him started running now, their war cries could be heard from all directions. Yet he just lay there, Francis closed his eyes and shut out the world. " _What are you doing? get up and join everyone else!... no no-I can't, I'm weak I've always been weak I can't fight."_ Francis held his hands over his head as the last of the ranks rushed past him. " _No I'm not letting you do this again….. no It-It's exactly like last time I can't go through this again… please no."_ Francis started to tremble on the floor, the external world meaningless to him at this moment. _Get up you're stronger now get up!"_ The words rung in his ears, yet strangely he could hear the same words being called from outside the little safe haven he had made within himself. "Get up soldier!" Echo's squadron leader was bounding towards Francis at a terrifying speed. At this point Francis wasn't sure what was scarier, the army or Gnoll's ahead of him or his squadron leader.

Before he could make the decision the squadron leader grabbed the fabric that covered his neck and pulled him to his feet. "You get in that fight now or I'll put you on a bloody charge boy, now go!" He pushed Francis in the direction of the battle and ran alongside him to make sure he didn't stop again.

"Shit shit shit shit shit" they were the only words Francis could think as he charged head first into what seemed to be his impending doom. From where he was he could see that the Gnolls were caught completely off guard, the Alliance army was begin to take ground, but some of the more astute Gnolls started to rally their comrades and began pushing some troops back.

Francis stopped observing the battle because he realised he was standing right in the centre, his charge had landed him in the middle of the battle. he turned left to look for the squadron leader who was with him when he started the charge. But he was alone, his squadron leader nowhere to be found. He turned back to face his front to see a large Gnoll charging towards him, it had a grin slapped upon his face, clearly it was happy that it'd found such an easy target as Francis. Francis raised his shield to protect his head just in time as the Gnolls axe came crashing down upon it. The impact sent pain shooting down his arm and reached his back, the Gnolls axe bounced back of the shield and its chest was wide open for a counter attack which never came. Francis could only block the attacks of the foe before him, hiding behind his steel shield.

The exchange between the two lasted a few minutes and the Gnoll was starting to become visibly annoyed now. His swings packed more power but his accuracy had suffered greatly. Its strikes used to hit in relatively the same place on the shield yet now he was struggling to even strike the shield. Because of this one of its swings went wide and as it drew the axe back it caught Francis' Tricep and ripped the flesh away with it. Francis cried in pain and dropped the shield, as the pain erupted throughout his arm he couldn't concentrate on it. A feeling much stronger than pain was surging inside him, a feeling he hadn't felt since… since then. It started to envelop his entire body. His arm was now painless, whether that was to do with numbing or this new feeling he wasn't to sure.

His body rose to its feet. He stood there facing his opponent, who was already bringing its axe up for another strike. Francis didn't have his shield anymore as he dropped it earlier and was now only carrying his sword which was in his right hand.

The Gnoll began to bring its axe down towards Francis' skull, it picked up speed as it fell towards a bloody and gruesome destination. For an instant there was victory in the Gnolls eyes, its lips curled upwards and its eyes sparkled in the thought of cleaving of this humans head in two.

There was a clanging of steel as Francis lifted his sword upwards to block the attack. The shock on the Gnolls face was not because of the block but because of the ease of the block. Francis stood there with his sword hand raised, he blocked the axe with one hand while the other dropped down by his side uselessly, or so the Gnoll thought. Francis brought his limp arm upwards and smashed his fist into the Gnolls gaw sending it flailing backwards.

As the Gnoll regained its footing it looked back at Francis in pure disbelief. Francis' face was emotionless, his eyes staring at the Gnoll yet looking right through him. Francis' body wasn't tensed up as it was at the beginning of the fight, he looked relaxed like he was playing a game with a friend. The Gnoll screeched as it ran back towards the motionless Francis.

The world was once again quiet, the screech ended abruptly as all the air was driven out of the Gnolls lungs, its eyes filled with shocked as it looked at Francis' face, which was much closer now than he was a few seconds ago. Its almost as if Francis' blinked towards the Gnoll, he couldn't of crossed that distance normally it would of been impossible.

Francis' sword was plunged deep inside the Gnolls chest, its mouth wide open is shock and pain. Francis twisted the sword then pulled it sharply back. The Gnoll slumped to the ground and fell to its side. There was no remorse in Francis' face as he watched the body, his facial features didn't change, he just turned around and look for another victim.

A gentle breeze descended upon the earth, the red stained grass gently swayed from side to side. The sun was starting its journey downwards and the clouds were lightly floating across the endless sky. The only noise came from the babbling of peasants as they walked through the carnage of the past seven hours. The job of the peasants were to find any friendly troops that were still alive and bring them back to the medical centre. Also if they found any Horde or enemy troops still alive, they were to capture them for interrogation later.

"I think this one's still alive boss." A peasant called while kneeling over a soldier which wore full plate armour. The soldier was lying on his back with his sword and shield lying by his sides. Around him were bodies of Gnolls spread out in all directions, some piled on top of each other. The peasant whistled as he bent down to inspect the soldiers body. "This guy had a real field day, there must be about thirty Gnolls here."

The head peasant arrived and assessed the scene before him. "Right get two people to carry him back, then get two more to loot the bodies around him."

The peasant nodded quickly and called over three more people to help him, he told two to carry the body back to the medical tent while he got to work with the looting of the Gnolls. Looting at the end of the battle was a very important job, the majority of the Alliances funds came from the money and items they gained after battles. The peasant looked at the carnage ahead of him, this is going to be a long day he sighed to himself.

"Get him on the table! give me all the Silverleaf we have!" Ministuf's voice was frantic and high pitched. She stood over Francis' body after all of his armour had been removed Ministuff could see the full extent of his injuries.

His chest was filled with black and purple bruises, and his arms and legs were riddled with deep cuts.

A golden beam of light was emitting from Ministuff's hands while an overly bearded Dwarf was milling the Silverleaf into a black pigment, he then pulled some Peacebloom from his green pouch around his waist and then began to mill it into the pigment. When he was done he added some water to the now red mixture and poured it into a small crystal vial, he then repeated that three more times.

He handed the vials to Ministuff and she poured three bottles over the largest cuts, then poured the final vial into Francis' mouth and massaged his throat to help it go down.

Almost instantly the largest of the cuts started to recede and the bruises in his chest began to turn back to the normal pinkish colour of his flesh. With a sigh of relief Ministuff hopped off her stool she was standing on and turned to the Dwarf. "If he wakes up call me immediately, if he starts getting worse add more of the healing potions to the affected areas." With a quick smile she disappeared into the crowd of combat healers which were attempting to save the lives of more soldiers.

Francis felt like he'd been kicked in the chest by a mountain giant, he groaned as he lifted himself up into a sitting position. He blinked several times before recognizing the faces which were staring back at him, he could see Ministuff and Isaiah stand at the end of his bed.

"Wa-What happened?" Francis could barely speak, each word sent a fire of pain through his chest.

"You nearly bloody died that's what!" Ministuff could hardly hide her anger as she stood there with her hands placed on her hips. "Never try something like that again, you'll give me a bloody heart attack!"

"Sor-Sorry, I don't really remember what I did? but I'm sorry I guess." Francis tried to think back to the fight, yet all he could remember was being cut in the tricep, then it all went black.

Isaiah looked Francis in the eye, it was unsettling to say the least. "That's actually what we're here to talk to you about, when the peasants found your body they found you in the middle of a circle of about thirty dead Gnolls. Ring any bells?"

Francis was shocked to say the least, "Umm-ugh all I can remember is fighting one Gnoll and that wasn't going very well. But thirty? No I don't remember a thing."

Ministuff cut in to stop the conversation between the two men. "Well just rest up and try to remember what you can… Because the Commander wants to see you as soon as you're well enough to talk properly." With that said Ministuff and Isaiah waved as they began to leave the room.

Francis couldn't even think straight, what happened? A sudden thought hit him like a brick, he held his head in his hands and ran his fingers through his hair. "Shit….. no it can't be like then… can it?" Tears began to make their appearances in the sides of his eyes. "No this is different it has to be."

What ever it was Francis wiped the tears before they fell and laid back down in the bed. His train of thought arrived at what the Commander wanted to talk to him about, he guessed it was about the battle. What would he say? He knew about as much as everyone else. Well like all the old veterans said in the Lion's Pride inn "Never a dull moment in the military."

 **Ohhhhh some mystery! anyway the next chapter will be where the main story really kicks off. It will be about what I had originally planed to write about. (Also 10 cookies to whoever can guess what the commander wants to say to Francis)**

 **Again thanks for reading! let me know what you thought of it :D**


	7. Sunny Icecrown

**Hey so after around three million years I've updated the story. To be honest University was a lot harder than I thought so that has been eating up my time quicker than a fat man in** **Oktoberfest. Sorry is all I can say, life has been going so fast lately that it's been hard to sit down and write anything. But hopefully I'm used to my crazy routine now to pick up the dusty keyboard and blow away the cobwebs.**

 **If you enjoyed this chapter let me know, if you didn't let me know also. Reviews and favourites feed the little gremlin I've enslaved to actually write this thing :) I'm far to busy to write it myself.**

Water! That's all Francis needed, standing at attention in this tent was becoming unbearable. He could feel each bead of sweat trickle down various parts of his body. His throat began to burn as he struggled to get enough saliva to swallow.

Cool air rushed into the tent and wrapped itself around Francis' body, a moment of priceless bliss that left as quickly as it came. The Commander marched into the tent and took a seat in the large military grade oak chair, which was positioned in such a place to make his presence even more daunting.

The Commander waved his hand playfully as he got comfortable. "Please take a seat, no need to act so stiff." His tone gave of a friendly vibe which could trick a less astute person than Francis. Even though Francis still took the seat which sat almost opposite to the Commander, Pausing slightly as he sat down. He'd been recovering for about four days now and thanks to the healing potions and healing prayers from Ministuff he'd almost healed to full health. Yet he still felt some pain when he exerted his muscles too much.

"Do you know why you're here today solider?" The Commander's voice was toneless, not giving Francis any chances to know his true intentions.

Francis had his idea's, the main one and the most likely one was when he refused to run in the battle with everyone else. He knew doing something so stupid and weak would have consequences, people were dying and he just lay there… Pathetic! All Francis could muster was a feeble "No sir."

"Yes they told me you didn't remember a thing, well does a ring of dead Gnolls ring a bell?" Francis' eyebrows shot upwards, he'd totally forgot Isaiah telling him about that a few days ago. A ball of pride started to build up inside his chest, he almost broke a smile but what happened next made him glad he didn't.

"Well whether you remember or not, I have a few questions to ask you. It's a bit suspicious you know, about week ago I saw a soldier in training when he swung his sword he nearly fell over and he couldn't even hold his shield up. Yet in a space of a few days I hear a report saying that the same soldier has killed thirty Gnolls by himself, that rings a few warning bells in my mind." It rang a few warning bells in Francis' mind too, why did he black out? how did he kill all the Gnolls? It's true he had gotten better over the week before the battle, but not that good, what happened to him? All Francis could do was look back at the Commander with a sullen expression.

"Have you ever heard the name _The Protectors of Azeroth_?" The Commander said as he scanned Francis' face for any sign of recognition, but couldn't find any. Francis had never heard the name before and his face showed it. The Commander sighed with relief, although he wasn't completely convinced he didn't want to push it any further, the less Francis knew of them the better. The Commander's face lightened up slightly as he began to change the subject. "Anyway what you did in the field would usually earn a soldier a promotion." At that word Francis' face lit up, he thought he'd be screamed at for sure yet here he was looking at a promotion. But the Commander wasn't finished. "Unfortunately I don't believe in giving someone as new as you a promotion, you've yet to prove yourself continuously, also it would create unwanted friction between the other soldiers. Some of them have been with the Alliance for ten years and yet to receive a promotion." Even though he was delivering bad news the Commander still had a sly smile on his face. "But what I have done is sent a letter to the forward base in Northrend. Since we've quelled the Gnoll problem there is only the Horde to deal with here, we don't need as much men here as before. I'm sure your… Talents are needed elsewhere."

Francis was speechless, he'd wanted to go to Northrend and help protect everyone yet now it was happening and he was actually terrified. All he could muster up to say was "Yes sir."

"Good we'll have you packed by midday. Oh and you'll be leaving with Kiron, he's been promoted to Corporal and has been rebased to the same camp in Northrend as you." Francis stood up and saluted, after doing so he smartly turned around and marched out the tent.

The feeling of vomit forcing its way out of Francis' throat was becoming unbearable, this was the eighth time today that he'd vomited over the side of the boat.

The massive lumbering wooden behemoth crashed into each wave, separating them like they were nothing more than ripples in a glass of water. The boat was made almost fully out of wood, apart from the front of it. At the front there was a huge eagle made completely of steel and its wings wrapped around the front sides of the boat. How it stayed afloat was a complete mystery to Francis, but he was far too preoccupied to start considering the physics of the boat.

A short laugh caused him to turn around suddenly, standing there was Kiron, arms crossed with a smug smile plastered on his face. As expected Kiron hadn't said a word to Francis, of all the people Kiron had to be the one traveling with him….. Just his luck. Again Kiron said nothing and just turned around and walked away. " _That damn Night Elf, acting all high and mighty because he isn't throwing his guts up. one day I'll make him pay for…. Oh gods not again"_ Francis once again bent over the side to complete his most unpleasant business.

"Land Ahoy!" the spotter bellowed from atop the crow's nest. The sound would of woken Francis from his sleep if he had not already been awoken by the spine chilling coldness of the air. For a while now the air had felt heavy, just breathing it in made his lungs sting uncontrollably. Is this really the place he'd wanted to go to? Who in their right mind would want to go here, let alone fight and potentially die here.

As usual because he was lost in thought Francis didn't even notice the ship docking into the port, the sudden absence of movement shook him out of his thoughts and he stood up to see where he had landed. To greet his sight was a castle which rivaled the Stormwind keep in size, it towered almost 60 meters of the ground and took up almost all of the island that it was built upon.

Francis looked around and noticed Kiron walking down a small ramp which headed in the direction of three Griffin Masters. Francis quickly made his way towards Kiron, he had no idea where they had to go, so following someone who looked like they knew seemed like a good idea. As he got close he overheard Kiron speaking to the Griffin Master. "One way to the Argent Vanguard in Icecrown please." What? Where was Kiron going? Francis thought they were meant to be stationed together, if so why was he heading to Icecrown?

Everyone knew about Icecrown, even if you were a simple Westfall farmer. The reason everyone had heard of it was because situated in Icecrown was the infamous Icecrown Citadel, the very seat of the Lich King himself.

"Wait Kiron!" Francis had started running now his arm raised above his head trying to get Kiron's attention. Kiron turned to see Francis almost falling over himself as he gets close. "Why are you going to Icecrown Kiron? I thought we were stationed together." Francis was almost completely out of breath, this air was practically impossible to breathe in. "We are stationed together, now hurry up and get your ticket I'm not waiting for you." With that Kiron pulled himself onto the back of the snow white Griffin and took of in a northeast direction.

Icecrown! why was Francis stationed there? Including the travel to Northrend he'd only been in the military for about a month now. This was going to fast for him, his life had changed so much he almost didn't know himself anymore.

"Hey kid! you getting the Griffin or not?" The Griffin Master was staring at Francis waiting for him to buy a flight or leave. "Umm yes… One way to the same place as the Night Elf please."

A snow white Griffin was led out of the stables situated behind the Griffin Master, the saddle was placed on its back and it bowed slightly to make it easier for Francis to mount the creature. As Francis got comfortable the large beast braced its legs and took one mighty leap into the sky. With each beat of its wings they both rose high into the chilling air.

The ride to the Argent Vanguard was long and unbearably cold, it was pretty cold at ground level so being this high in the sky made it that much worse. After about an hour Francis knew he was drawing nearer to the Vanguard because he could see the towering spire of the Icecrown Citadel, just looking at it sent an unknown sensation down his spine. It felt like all his strength was been sucked out of his body.

Finally he heard the whistle that the Griffin Master uses to signal the Griffins to land, he had arrived after what was the coldest and most spine chilling hour of his life. The Griffin landed hard into the soft snow, after the long flight its legs had stiffened up and had trouble holding its weight and the weight of its passenger. After it got some footing Francis hopped down and immediately wrapped his cloak around his body to try and stay warm.

It suddenly hit him that he had no idea where he was meant to go, Kiron had all the orders issued to them and he was nowhere to be seen " _That bastard!"_

Francis quickly scanned the Vanguards camp and found footprints leading away from the Griffin Master posts and towards the camp, they were fresh footprints because the falling of snow would of covered them up if they had been older than a few minutes. Feeling content Francis followed the footprints all the way to a small tent with a sign planted into the snow next to it, it read "Arrivals." Well that's convenient he thought to himself. As he pushed the tent flap to the side and stepped in he could see Kiron waiting in line behind a rather overly hairy Dwarf. After closing the tent flap again Francis quickly walked over to Kiron and took his place in the line behind to Night Elf.

"Oh thanks for waiting, great friend you are!" Francis spat as he turned to Kiron, Kiron just turned his head slightly while still looking straight ahead "You survived the flight? That's good to see, and I never said I was your friend kid." With that Kiron walked over to an empty desk and began speaking to the female Human behind it.

After a few minutes the overly hairy Dwarf left the tent and the next desk was free for Francis to go to. He was looking forward to this after he saw the female Human that was helping Kiron, he was looking for some female interaction that wasn't a woman four feet smaller than him. Unfortunately as he got to the desk what he was greeted with wasn't the good looking woman he had expected but a weird blue tentacled man. He nearly screamed as he approached the desk, stopping a few steps away from the desk because he didn't want to get too close. Who or what was sitting opposite the desk. After the initial shock wore off Francis' remembered stories of blue aliens who had fallen from the sky's on a crashed ship, the stories said that these aliens became part of the Alliance when they began to show exceptional fighting skills and unseen powers.

Francis regained his composure and closed the few steps between him and the table, luckily from what he could tell the alien hadn't noticed his shocked reaction. "Name?" the words came out of the alien's mouth with a low raspy tone. The question was so simple yet it threw Francis off guard. For some reason it never occurred to him that this alien could speak Common. Common was the language of the Alliance, many different species had their own language and dialect but all species of the Alliance were expected to know a small portion of Common.

"Francis C…." Before he could finish the alien lifted its hand and wrote Francis' name down next to Kiron's on the list in front of him. "Take your things, you and the Corporal are in tent fourteen. Your orders are laid out on your beds." Francis was about to ask some much needed questions, questions about why he was stationed in Icecrown. As he was about to ask these questions he noticed Kiron leaving the tent, not wanting to be left behind again with no clue where to go and what to do he hurried after the Night Elf.

Kiron walked at a steady pace, his long legs taking elegant strides in the snow. His movement was mesmerising to say the least. Francis noticed Kiron duck down and enter a small but long tent on his left, noticing the number fourteen stuck to the tent flap Francis knew he was at the right place. He entered a few seconds after Kiron and took a long look at what could inevitably be his home for the next few years of his life.

There was a row of beds lining the walls on both sides each with a chest at the end of them. The covers were cyan and there were no pillows on the bed.

Two beds in the tent looked immaculate, so judging from the state of the other beds in the tent those two were theirs. Where the pillows should of been there was a small piece of paper placed on both of the beds. Francis picked his up and read it out in a whisper which turned more into a mumble as time passed.

The paper read "Put on your armour and speak to Sergeant Zilo at the camp's entrance, he has work for you both." As Francis finished reading he looked up towards Kiron, Kiron had already begun strapping on his breastplate and not to be left behind again Francis hurried to mirror him.

Standing tall while wearing full military armour was no easy task, even for a hardened veteran, so Francis was struggling more than most. He waited for Kiron to put his helmet on then made his way to the entrance of the tent. Kiron strode past him and stepped out into the white canvas that lay before him.

Francis took a deep breath and had an odd thought of home, as the snow began to blow into the tent. The cold chilling air bit at his cheeks and snowflakes started falling through the tee shaped slat in his helmet. He took his first step outside, the soft snow crunching beneath his feet. He took his first steps into the hell hole known as Icecrown, if he knew the horrors that awaited him past the tents entrance he never would of taken another step. But as they say 'Ignorance is bliss'.

 **Well there we are, told you he'd go to Northrend. Now this is where more action happens and the story begins to thicken. Also the romance I promised is only a few chapters away... probably... Anyway hope you enjoyed and leave a review if you did/didn't**

 **Hopefully see you next chapter!**


	8. The Battle for Mord'rethar

**Well it's been about 3 months since an update but university has been taking all my time, so now I have my dissertation to do I've decided to start writing again (worst time to start ever I know) well here it is the next instalment of the mildly amusing Warcraft story. This time we're attacking a fort in Icecrown and things actually happen 0_0 (crazy I know) Anyway I hope you enjoy and like always let me know what you think and if you do enjoy it please favourite and follow it makes my day knowing people actually read my mad scribbles :)**

The pure white landscape sprawled out like an endless untouched canvas, the mountain peaks and sky blending into one colour. Small delicate snowflakes fell on untouched ground slowly building up higher, it seemed as though left untouched they would eventually reach the heavens. If it was not for the sun rising each day to quell its nightly growth. Life seemed tranquil and untarnished in this desolate place. Unfortunately each soldier who stood on that same forsaken land knew the perfect vision ahead would soon be warped into an unrecognisable vision of death, pain and fear.

Today was the first day of operation storm Mord'rethar. Mord'rethar was a fort situated high on the mountain which centred Icecrown, it housed many of the Lich King's forward armies which had to be defeated. To reach Mord'rethar the Alliance would first have to cross over the bridge which lead to the fort, this bridge was also known as the Gate of Death.

Francis stood in line with men he had only known for as little as four days maximum, not exactly the people he wanted to die beside but he'd guess they'd have to do. By now Francis had convinced himself he was going to die, his luck from the last fight had run out and now he was about to charge over a bridge and into literally the gates of death. It was inevitable and he had made peace with that, well he thought he had but he couldn't help going over it in his head. Even now while standing in line waiting for the order to advance he was picturing the slow and painful ways he could die, he could be eaten alive, dissolved in monsters acid or just the traditional bleeding to death. Neither sounded appealing yet all seemed very probable.

Kiron stood three men to the left of Francis, right next to the sergeant who led the thirty man squad. Seeing as Kiron is now a corporal he must always stay close to the sergeant, just in case anything were to happen to the man in charge Kiron will always know what to do and how to complete the mission successfully. If Kiron was to also fall then…. well Francis guessed they would probably be fucked.

After a long stretch of silence the sergeant looked up to see a fully armoured war Griffin soar across the pure white sky. The heavily armoured Dwarf riding the Griffin produced a large purple flag with a sword and shield insignia sewn onto it. All at once the sergeants of each squad roared the advance order cracking the perfect silence which hung ever so lightly in the air. Francis' legs began moving automatically, the endless hours of drill had permanently embedded the orders into his brain and he was now able to perform them without having to think about it.

There were only one squad in front of Francis' squad, this made him practically situated on the front lines. "Great" he thought and tried to remember saying which was taught to all new recruits to help calm themselves as they marched into battle. Luckily he didn't have to think for long as the sergeant began saying it out loud so all could hear. "I now begin my walk into hell. Death may come on swift wings to each brave soul, but I shall not fear the reapers presence I shall embrace his call and fight knowing he is but two steps behind me and two more steps in front of my enemy. I shall embody the reaper and take the enemies lives as the reaper will surely take mine before this day is done". The sounds of the soldiers echoed across the once silent Sapphire sky, their footsteps began shattering the stalactite which hung underneath the bridge. Step by step they made their way into the jaws of hell.

Piles of bones began moving slowly at first but soon picked up speed as they snapped together and slowly formed humanoid shapes. The sound of bones crunching and snapping sliced through the air, each snap sending sharp shivers down each soldier's spines. Cries of terror struck the night sky as banshees soared high above, waiting for their chance to take a unknowing solider high up never to be seen again.

Francis could smell blood, the fighting hadn't even begun yet but it hung in the air. He was now close enough to see the glowing blue eyes of the undead which now littered the walls, each one made of blackened bones. All he could do was stare at the horrifying site playing out just a few hundred meters ahead.

A sudden cry broke his concentration, although this time it wasn't a banshees cry it was the cry of the man stood next to him. Francis quickly turned to see why he made such a noise when he saw a long black stick with dark greasy feathers at the end plunged deep into the man's eye. He screamed again and fell to his knees, with this Kirons voice broke the chant "Archers shields up". Kiron wasn't a warrior yet he had been equipped with a large steel shield to help him defend against the archers until he got closer to the fight.

With the order everyone lifted their shields above their heads and then it began, the ear stinging sound of arrow heads crashing against steel shields. Screams and cries rung over the battlefield as arrows hit their marks, blood splattered the floor along with the armour of the marching soldiers as they passed on by. Nobody stopped to help their fallen comrades, stopping would halt the entire squadron causing more casualties. Francis knew this but it didn't make it any easier stepping over his fallen comrades, their cries and plea's begging him to help them each one with mortal terror in their eyes.

It didn't take long for the first squadron to reach the enemies front lines, this made the archers stop firing at risk of hitting their own men. After they put away their bows they drew short swords and leaped from the battlements down into the fray, adding to their melee numbers.

Even with the increase of melee fighters Francis could see that the Alliance forces were actually beating them back, as Francis took his place behind a soldier he readied himself for the upcoming fight. The way the Alliance fought was very uniform and effective, they would make a line of soldiers and attack in rhythm while slowly overwhelming the enemy forces. To keep the front line firm there is always a soldier behind the first one, if the front soldier was to be killed then the one behind him could quickly take his place and the line won't break. This was drilled into them every time they practiced.

At this time the rest of the army had finally crossed the last of the bodies which had been killed by the archers. As this happened the sounds of battle was drowned out by a deep voice echoing through the sky "Borne Noth Ru Waldir Endirivs **Falhedring** ". The last word boomed across the battlefield causing not only the Alliance army to stop fighting but the undead one to.

Once again loud snapping sounds pierced the air but it wasn't coming from the enemies direction, it was coming from behind them. One by one the Alliance soldiers turn around and to their horror saw the source of the noise. The fallen soldiers which they had just finished passing were slowly rising to their feet, bones and joints snapping every time they moved. Francis stared in horror as he witnessed this, he was so shocked he almost didn't see the dead soldiers eyes. Blue flames had engulfed the area where their eyes used to be, it also took him a few seconds to notice they were now trapped. The Lich King's army was blocking their front and the newly risen army was blocking their rear.

"Kiron!" Francis shouted suddenly "I'm already on it!" Kiron replied in a tone Francis had never heard come out of Kiron, it was fear.

Kiron pulled a small scroll out of his waist pocket and tugged it open, he muttered something under his breath and a moment later several birds burst out of the paper. "Go get reinforcements…. Now!" he said as they leaped into the air and began flying off. Archers which were still on the battlements began firing at the birds and managed to kill two but the rest flew out of range.

Francis was so preoccupied with the events taking place behind him he almost didn't notice the battle had started again at the front, the only thing which grabbed his attention was the screams of the man in front of him as he was killed by a skeleton holding two spiked axes. Francis spun round, held his shield up to his eyes and stepped into the place where the man had just fallen.

Time slowed as he looked at the wave of bones and weapons in front of him, each with the same blue flames in their eyes as the soldiers behind him. His thought was broken by a heavy force sharply pushing against his shield as the skeleton with the axes attacked him furiously.

It took everything Francis had to just block the onslaught of attacks, he waited until the skeleton pulled back for another strike and when it did he brought his sword arm up in a cutting motion and cleaved the skeletons arm clean off. He then brought his arm back down onto the skeletons skull, as he did so the blue flames died out from its eyes and it slumped to the floor its bones piled on top of each other.

Almost instantly another skeleton with a long broadsword crashed against Francis' shield. Francis pushed his shield back hard and knock the new skeleton off balance, with a quick flourish of his sword the skeleton ended up like the previous one.

After about twenty minutes the fight was getting desperate, each man who fell was shortly reanimated into a blue eyed shambling horror. The small group of remaining soldiers were being dwindled down with each passing minute and the undead army seemed to just keep getting bigger.

Francis looked around for Kiron who had grabbed a reanimated soldier and was plunging his short sword into its stomach. "Kiron what are we to do?" he shouted desperately, he was completely out of breath and each word took a lot of effort. Kiron looked at two soldiers and said "Cover me while I summon another animal". The two soldiers stepped forward as Kiron fell back, he once again pulled out a scroll from his waist pocket. He yanked it open and muttered similar words, yet this time no message birds appear but a large snowy griffin. Krion pushed a soldier out of the way and leaped onto the hovering griffins back, with a loud shout he flew off into the sky and back towards the Alliance camp.

Francis looked on in complete disbelief. "Kiro….." The words couldn't come out, had Kiron really left them to die? He knew Kiron had never been the nicest guy but had he really fallen this low? As his attention was brought back to the massacre he noticed the small group that was left had now been pushed up towards the side of the bridge.

This was it, he was going to die. He expected some flash of memories or his life might flash before his eyes, but nothing. Fear began to grow in the pit of his stomach, he was so caught up in his fear he didn't notice a large axe bearing down at his head. With a earth shattering clang it ricocheted off his helmet as it connected at an awkward angle. Francis' world went white and a high pitched ringing was bursting in his ears, he had no depth perception and he stumbled backwards.

He hit a hard stone ledge and he fell backwards, the sounds of the battle had been replaced with whistling winds. He opened his eyes and his sight had returned but he wasn't looking at the battle, he was looking at a mountain in the distance yet it was upside down and moving. Francis wasn't in the battle he was falling, he had fallen back off the side of the bridge and was now plummeting towards the ground. The bridge was about 500 feet above the ground and the fall would surely kill him. Francis realised this and as he did he passed out but his body moved on its own, it spun around and opened its arms and legs wide to start slowing the fall. As it started slowing down it pulled its left arm back slightly which made it start to glide to the left and after a few seconds it was above a large spider web.

Francis' body landed heavily onto the web and the web strained under the force of the impact, but did not beak. Francis lay there unconscious as the battle above came to deadly and inevitable end, the last of the Alliance soldiers were cut down and all slowly became silent.

Lionheart had finished his speech to the last of the squadron leader's "Right then if there are no other questions please get all of your squadrons ready and we will commence the second attack. The first wave should have broken through the gates by now." His voice was calm and confident he let out a long breath and stood up from his red cushioned chair. As he did this he heard the thud of a griffin landing outside the tent. "Ahh that must be the first waves messenger good news I hope." A few seconds passed and Kiron burst into the tent, blood stained his tunic and he had several cuts across his body and face. Panting and with a strained voice he said "The wave….. Over run…. Did as you said….. Used griffin to get away... " He slumped to his knees as Lionheart quickly strode over, picked him up and ushered him out of the tent. The squadron leaders left in the tent began whispering to each other muttering about what their new orders will be and why Kiron looked so beat up.

Outside Lionheart held Kiron up as he asked him what happened, Kiron looked up and spoke painfully "The enemy.. They kill our men then reanimate them to fight against us. It was a massacre, I did what you said and left….. I left….. I left them all behind."

Kiron's head fell and his body began to shake as he tried to fight back the emotions, He would mumble Francis' name between exasperated breaths. "You did well. You did just as I told you, they were weak and had to be culled" Lionheart replied he went on to say "You got corporal through me, just like every man back in that tent you do what I say." Kiron looked shocked, he realised now why his promotion application got accepted so quickly. "You… You knew they would be slaughtered, you knew about the reanimation." Kiron gasped. Lionheart chuckled slightly "Weak men are like poison to an army Kiron, the best way to stop poison is to suck it out from the source. I merely took out the poison, surely a new sergeant like yourself would understand." Kiron looked pale he couldn't believe the words he was hearing from such a respected officer in the Alliance. "No you're the poison in this army, you and all who work for you. I won't accept your promotion bribes anymore." Kiron spat, he pulled his body free from Lionhearts grasp and jumped onto the back of the snowy griffin "I would rather die with my men than become part of your poisonous group!" With that he kicked hard into the griffins sides and it leaped into the sky and turned into the direction of the bridge.

Lionheart sighed and walked back into the tent, he looked around and spoke to the men inside "I guess we've lost one more, no matter only a few more steps are needed then victory will be assured." He finished with a thin smile and the men sat down stood up and all sharply saluted Lionheart and said "For the King!"

 **"Dun Dun Dun... that's right I'm adding mystery into this son of a b..." anyway next chapter there will be the start of the ever elusive romance that I promised so remember to check in again for the next update, hopefully I'll have it done before the next millennia :)**


	9. Kalen

**Hi again! This update isn't that late this time which is good. This one is a longer than the others too, I know I don't know what came over me but there we are. I have finished my second year of university and am looking forward to the work crippling third year and all that juicy juicy student debt! But seriously Thank you for getting it this far in my story, I never thought I would get this far myself and it really makes my day when some one reads it and enjoys it so thank you! Again if you do like it please leave a comment and let me know, or follow and favourite :)**

 **Also please comment if you don't like it, let me know what you don't like so I can make it a better story :)**

Loud banging woke Francis sharply from his unconscious dreaming, he tried to lift his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead but it was like something was pulling his hand back down. Soon he realised the banging was in his head and it hurt like nothing he had felt before. He opened his eyes to see he was laying on his front on what seemed to be large strings, after blinking several times he noticed that the string was very sticky and it was in fact the sticky string that was pulling his hand back down.

Panic began to build as he slowly put the pieces together and after a few seconds Francis began rolling left and right franticly. "No no…. please no!"

With all of his effort he couldn't get free from this horrible sticky string, when suddenly Francis felt the string bend down to his left. Almost like something large and heavy had put its weight down onto the string. He slowly stopped struggling and gingerly opened his eyes.

At the edge of the string was a monstrous sized spider steadily making its way to Francis, Its body was small but it had amazingly long spiny legs and a oversized rear end. It was walking carefully almost as if to try and not cut the web it was standing on. Francis quickly noticed the tip of each leg was superbly sharp, each with spikes jutting out at random angles.

The hair on the back of his neck stood up and more goosebumps riddled his skin with each step the spider took. Struggling with every ounce of strength he had left Francis began rolling and tugging his body away from the hulking spider slowly creeping closer. Within seconds it had reached him, it towered over him with its fangs clicking rapidly. Green liquid was oozing of them and each time they clicked some would splatter onto Francis' armour. Francis was petrified his whole body felt like it was made of rocks, even breathing was difficult. Unable to think Francis watched on as the spider slowly brought its front leg upwards, pointing the sharp end towards Francis' arm. It seemed like it was going to cut him up into pieces before it either ate him or just killed him.

It quickly brought its leg down with pinpoint accuracy aiming right for Francis' wrist, Francis didn't think and with all his strength he pulled his arm towards his chest. As he did so the spiders web began pulling back and with all the strength he had left his arm moved ever so slightly. This was enough and the spider missed by a fraction cutting into the web and slicing it completely, the section which was holding the right side of Francis up gave way and he fell slightly. The left side was still stuck to the web but now the whole of the right side of his body was free.

This caught the spider completely off guard as it never expected part of the web to be cut away, two of its legs were on the section which was cut away and it fell slightly struggling to get a strong grip again. It began flailing its legs randomly trying to get back up and in doing so cut Francis' left arm and the web holding the rest of Francis' body up.

Francis fell onto the snow below with a loud thud, his head was still banging and now his left arm was burning unbearably. Blood oozed out of the wound, which was a good thing he thought, if it was spurting then it would have been a major artery which was damaged.

Noticing that the spider was still struggling above him he began running as fast as he could away from the web above, he had no idea where to go but anywhere must be better than where he was right now.

After running for as long as his heavy body would allow him to he slumped down behind a large rock which seemed to be part of the mountain which Mord'rethar was built atop. His breathing was heavy and his arm was becoming numb, "What the hell….. Was that? How did I survive the bridge?" He asked himself between heavy breaths, he could remember falling but nothing afterwards.

His thoughts were scattered and he couldn't think straight, focusing on one thing seemed too difficult for him right now. Blinking rapidly Francis slowed his breathing and tried to focus his mind on one thing, strangely he found himself thinking of a small inn he used to visit when he was back in Stormwind. He was never old enough to drink there but he would often visit just to talk to the waitress there.

His thoughts settled on her rosy face and her slightly over enthusiastic laugh. Out of nowhere this odd thought of his past had popped up and calmed him down enough to think correctly. Francis opened his eyes suddenly, the dream world he had shortly visited broke down around him and the usual bone numbing chill began to sink in again.

Looking around Francis got his bearings, it was useless to try and find a river because the cold had frozen any water solid. "There goes any chance of finding my way to the sea..." He thought. His next course of action was to look for any distinguishable landmarks and then figure out where he was from that, although while looking around he slowly began noticing large human sized web cocoons littering the ground around him.

They stood there motionless, Francis could only wonder what was inside them yet just thinking that made him shiver from head to toe. After a quick assessment Francis decided that they were harmless, he could either spend time worrying about them and give the huge spider a chance to catch up or he could trust them and continue head west.

He knew that the camp was west and by finding the north star in the sky, it was the star to the left of the Turalyon's Hammer constellation, by following this he must be able to find the wall he fell from again and then the camp.

After a few minutes of navigating through the cocoon maze he had stumbled upon a sudden movement caught his eye, his short army experience kicked in and he swiveled around and faced the movement. To his surprise it wasn't a vicious monster but one of the cocoons, it was wriggling slowly from left to right. Francis was just about to turn and quickly leave it be when he heard a faint shout coming from the direction of the cocoon.

Francis froze at the sound the cocoon made, was he going insane? Did he really just hear a cocoon shout? Then it happened again a small almost inaudible sound coming straight from the wriggling mass of web in front of him. Francis gingerly walked towards the cocoon and with each step the shouting grew louder.

He was now standing a meter away and he was sure he could hear a very muffled "Hhmememlmmp!" He almost jumped backwards, someone was inside the cocoon. Could one of the Alliance soldiers also have survived the fall and had been caught by the big spider which almost got himself?

Francis bent down and removed a very small but fine blade from a holder in his ankle, he slowly pushed the blade into the top of the cocoon and taking care not to puncture the person inside he pulled sharply downwards to cut it open.

Almost instantly the webbing of the cocoon ripped open and the shape of a slim body flew outwards and collided with Francis knocking him off his feet. Looking up all Francis could see was a golden glow, he didn't think it could be the sun since the sun never truly showed in Northrend. After some rapid blinking he noticed the golden glow to actually be hair, and it was now being pulled away from his face and a scream of terror followed it.

Pushing himself up into a sitting position Francis took his first look at the creature that had been inside the cocoon. It was quite obvious that the creature was female due to the long glowing golden hair and her slim frame. She had nearly pale looking skin, which just emphasizes the colour of her hair, bright green eyes and long ears reaching far back. The creature had a very pretty face with a small nose, much of which was now hidden behind her arms as she raised them up defensively.

Francis could see now quite clearly that she was indeed a blood elf, blood elves were a descendant from the night elves but due to their insatiable desire for magic they were cast away from the night elves and forced to live elsewhere. After many years the blood elves have made a pact with the Horde and now fight alongside them against the Alliance.

Francis had never meet a creature from the Horde before, he had fought Gnolls before but they weren't part of the Horde so they didn't count. He didn't know whether to run or fight her, but before he could make his decision she jumped at him crying and pleading for help. Her voice came out relatively high pitched but had a warm feel towards it "Please please help me, my group I was with was ambushed by large spiders and they were all killed. Please you must help me get away!" Francis was taken aback by the sudden outburst of what he first thought to be his enemy, but after quick inspection it was clear to see she didn't seem to be a threat at all.

The blood elf tightened her grip around Francis' waist and he managed to wrestle her arms off him. "Wait... wait... what please slow down." He said with great effort, unfortunately as she let go of him she looked around with a terrified expression and began running away in the opposite direction. Francis called to her now quickly disappearing back "Wait! Please come back." He hoisted himself back onto his feet and began painfully running after her, his legs felt like stone and it took all of his strength to lift them through each step.

The blood elf ducked under a large fallen tree, one of the only trees in sight, Francis quickly followed and found her sitting with her back towards a large stone wall. As Francis came to a stop he could see that her arms and legs were littered with scars and cuts, none of them were bleeding too heavily but he figured that with all her injuries she probably couldn't run much further.

He half collapsed and half sat down in front of her, she was shaking and looking down into her hands, her eyes were sunken and purple rings embedded themselves into the bottom of her eyes. Francis slowly reached into a pocket under his breastplate, which only after stopping to rest he realised he should have ditched long ago to shed some weight. He gently pulled out a small scroll with an Alliance wax sigil where the seam was, he broke the seal and slowly opened the scroll. The blood elf winced slightly as she watched him with fear painted deep into her eyes.

Suddenly first aid supplies burst out of the scroll now lain on the floor, bandages and small bottles of ointment spill out as the blood elf shuffles backwards still in fear of everything happening around her.

Francis picked up the bandage with one hand and uncorked a greenish bottle of ointment with the other, once done he dabbed the ointment onto the bandage and shuffled towards the blood elf. She backed away and shook her head frantically, but Francis continued forwards saying softly "It's ok… it's fine, I'm not here to hurt you.." He didn't know why he wasn't here to hurt her, she was his enemy in the end and he should be killing her…. Killing her, even thinking about it made his stomach do somersaults.

It hadn't phased him to much when he had to kill Gnolls, mainly because they were a babbling uncultured species, the same applied for the undead he fought on the bridge. Now he was looking at another civilized species he couldn't bring himself to hurt her, he only wanted to help her which was what he was trying to do. His true intentions seemed to shine through because the blood elf seemed to relax slightly and let him creep closer and gently apply the bandage.

She must have thought if he was trying to kill her he could have easily done so while she was so weak. Francis applied the bandages softly round her left leg then repeated on her right leg and then moved to her arms, her skin was unbelievably smooth even with all the cuts and scars. Her hair seemed to glow and her bright green eyes were mesmerising as they followed his hands as he carefully applied the bandages.

When he finished Francis ripped the scroll and the unused bandages and ointments vanished, the ones on the blood elf reminded though. She looked up with a less fearful look on her face and mumbles an incomprehensible word, as she did so it hit Francis that she probably couldn't speak common. Common was the language of the Alliance and each member should have a basic understanding of it, since she was not of the Alliance she probably couldn't speak it yet she looked up and spoke with a very quiet, gentle and fluent accent "Thank you…. But why are you helping me?"

Francis was almost speechless, when he heard her voice it was like he was bathing in a sea of warm soothing water. He was so entranced by her voice he almost overlooked the fact that she could speak common and she could speak it well. He managed to mumble "Well you were hurt, why wouldn't I help you?" She tilted her head slightly, he long ears swaying delicately as she moved. "But we are enemies, I Horde and you Alliance. Anyone else would have surely cut me down!" Francis was still pondering this as she was right they were enemies, he looked at her beat up and shivering body "What would I gain from killing a person in need? War takes many good people and turns them into unrecognisable people, it breeds much pain and in turn creates anger. With that anger more war, only by breaking the cycle of pain and anger can we stop war. I guess I just saw this as a chance to stop the cycle."

Francis had been thinking about war for a long time as he had been in the army, what he was saying was the result of his thoughts. The blood elf looked half shocked, she didn't reply to his answer and she just kept her bright green eyes fixed on his dull, tired, sunken blue eyes.

"Do you have a name?" Francis asked breaking the silence and forcing her eyes to leave his. She looked around almost as if she was having a mental battle with herself, whatever the outcome was she opened her mouth and answered "Kalen." Francis sighed with relief and said "My names Francis."

They sat there in silence for what seemed like hours when Kalen began rubbing her arms and legs with a shocked look on her face, she began pulling of the bandages and looked wide eyed at her skin. It was completely healed.

Francis noticed the shocked look on her face as she stood there staring at her skin. "Do you not have healing ointment in the Horde?" He asked with a wondered voice. "No we either use magic or if we are hurt to much then we are killed." She answered with a slight waver in the last few words. Francis was taken aback by this, was the Horde really that savage? He had heard stories from the old veterans but he had never really believed them.

"Thank you" The words broke Francis out of another day dream and she stood up too quickly and had to steady himself. Kalen look slightly worried and asked "Are you ok?" Francis told her about the battle on the bridge and the large spider he had to face after falling. She seemed to hang on every word he said and even shrieked when he explained the spider. "That was the spider that got me and my squad, how did you take it on yourself?" she asked, Francis looked around trying not to make eye contact "Well I didn't really take it on, I sort of just escaped and ran" He replied feeling a little ashamed.

At the end of the explanation Kalen said the one thing that had been obvious from the start "If you have been through all of that then you need rest!" She was right Francis felt faint and had almost no energy at all. He slowly lowered himself back down on the floor with assistance from Kalen, if he wasn't in so much pain he would have enjoyed the skin contact.

The small area they were in seemed to be good enough to rest in, the large fallen tree acted as a doorway and the stone walls closed them in. Even the dead leaves from the tree acted as a small roof. Francis laid down on his back and began to close his eyes then quickly opened the again and looked at Kalen. She seemed to tell what he was thinking and said "Don't be afraid, you saved my life and I will not do anything to harm yours. We need each other if we are to survive so I keep a watch while you sleep." Although even before she could finish Francis was asleep. Her soothing velvet voice had wrapped itself around him and he had fell into the comforting nightly slumber which he had wished for ever since the battle on the bridge.

Kiron had finally reached the bridge where the battle at the start of the day had been held, he looked over the shoulders of the griffin and saw the empty bridge below. The dead had been risen and moved away and as he had guessed he was too late.

He shouted and punched the armour of the griffin. The griffin squaked back in anger and shook left to right. Kiron steadied himself and thought hard, if there were any survivors then they would have feld off the bridge. He was stuck now because he couldn't go back to the base because the officers we all corrupted and now probably wanted his head. He had to find survivors, he had to find Francis, Kiron knew if anyone could survive the battle it was Francis. He pushed down hard on the griffin's neck and it jumped into a dive, it landed hard on the bridge and Kiron jumped of the back of it. There didn't seem to be any undead guards so he could have a quick look at what was left of the battle, which after a quick look wasn't much at all.

There were no bodies, the only evidence that there was a battle was the blood stained cobblestone which made up the bridge. He could see a large collection of blood up against a wall on the left, he walked over and looked around. He couldn't see any evidence of survivors but when he looked over the small wall of the bridge he could see a large destroyed web far below. It then came to Kiron, maybe just maybe someone could have fallen off and landed on the web. This would destroy it and they could have survived the fall, although he even knew that a web that size couldn't be broken by a man falling on it. Maybe he thought, maybe the rest of the army jumped off the bridge and that's what broke it. There could be more men alive he thought.

With that freshly in his head he ran back to the griffin and leaped onto the back of it, with one powerful flap of its majestic wings Kiron and the griffin were back in the air looking for any sign of life. He had to find them, he had to find him.

 **So there we are, Francis has found a blood elf called Kalen, will they survive? Will I kill her and Francis of next chapter because I am in charge and it's my world now! Probably not because it would be a boring story with just Kiron.**

 **Again thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it :D**


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